The General is a 1927 American silent film comedy from Buster Keaton. The film flopped when first released but is now regarded as the height of silent film comedy. The film is based on events from America’s civil war.

A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.

The Great Stone Face portrays Luke Shannon, a “tintype” portrait photographer who develops a serious crush on Sally, a beautiful woman who works as a secretary for MGM’s newsreel department. Luke’s primary rival for Sally’s affections is a cameraman for the company, so Luke decides to sign to the newsreel department in hopes of impressing her. However, his hand with a movie camera is not especially sure at first; he mistakenly double exposes a reel of film that results in battleships sailing down Broadway, while his attempts to get footage of a Tong battle seem more successful until an organ grinder’s monkey runs off with his film. Luke gets the axe before long, but he’s not about to give up, and he tries to find another way to impress his lady love.

Alfred’s father feels his son has grown up too comfortably and as a result has not become what a man should be. To remedy this predicament he sends his son Alfred off on a hunting trip. On the trip, in the midst of many follies brought on by his inexperience with the outdoors, he meets a young mountain girl and falls in love with her. Alfred’s butler, who has accompanied him on the outing, is sent to arrange the marriage with the girl’s father, who thinks Alfred is too weak to become a member of the family. In an attempt to change the father’s mind, the butler tells the girl’s father and brother that Alfred is actually Alfred “Battling” Butler, a professional boxer. The deception works and a wedding is arranged. Comic mischief ensues as Alfred and his butler attempt to make their newly fabricated story seem plausible to the family of his new bride.

Keaton portrays Friendless, who travels west to try to make his fortune. Once there, he tries his hand at bronco-busting, cattle wrangling, and dairy farming, eventually forming a bond with a cow named “Brown Eyes.” Eventually he finds himself leading a herd of cattle through Los Angeles.